Abstract
Butler and Smith had similarities in their moral philosophy. Butler's conscience resembles Smith's impartial spectator in that both were to direct sentiments and passions. However, unlike Butler, Smith's impartial spectator was not hierarchical. This was relevant to their difference in political thought. In addition, because, unlike Butler, Smith did not think that the political or moral supreme principle should control other principles, he did not think of society as hierarchical. He did not think that hierarchical religious order was necessary for the maintenance of society. Instead, the ordinary could be prudent.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Akhtar, S. 2006. Restoring Joseph Butler’s conscience. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 14 (4): 581–600.
Anscombe, G.E.M. 1958. Modern moral philosophy. Philosophy 33 (124): 1–19.
Blaustein, I.M. 2015. “Conscience, Moral Motivation, and Self-Deception”, Dissertation. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Boston University.
Brown, V. 1994. Adam Smith’s Discourse; Canonicity, Commerce, and Conscience. London: Routledge.
Darwall, S. 1992. “Conscience as Self-Authorizing in Butler’s Ethics”. in Christopher Cunliffe (ed.), Joseph Butler’s Moral and Religious Thought: Tercentenary Essays, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 209–4241.
Frey, R.G. 1992. Butler on self-love and benevolence. In Joseph Butler’s Moral and Religious Thought: Tercentenary Essays, ed. C. Cunliffe, 243–267. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hanley, R.P. 2009. Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hebblethwaite, B. 1997 Ethics and Religion in a Pluralistic Age: Collected Essays, Edinburgh; T & T Clark.
Holden, T. 2010. Spectres of False Divinity: Hume’s Moral Atheism. Oxford: Oxford Univwesity Press.
Jeffner, A. 1966. Butler and Hume on Religion: a Comparative Analysis, Stockholm: Diakonistyrelsens Bokförlag.
Lustila, G.L. 2019. “The Problem of Partiality in 18th Century British Moral Philosophy”, Dissertation. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Boston University.
David MacNaughton, (1992) “Butler on Benevolence”. in Christopher Cunliffe (ed.), Joseph Butler’s Moral and Religious Thought: Tercentenary Essays, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Norton, W.J., Jr. 1940. Bishop Butler: Moralist & Divine. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
O’Brien, W. 1991. Butler and the authority of conscience. History of Philosophy Quarterly 8 (1): 43–57.
Ooi, D. 2022. Hume’s fragment on evil. Hume Studies 47 (1): 39–53.
Penelhum, T. 1985. Butler, London, Boston, and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
—— (1988) “Butler and Hume”, Hume Studies, XIV(2):251–276.
Pritchard, M.S. 1978. Conscience and reason in Butler’s ethics. The Southwestern Journal of Philosophy 9 (3): 39–49.
Pyke, N. 1970. “Editor’s notes”, in David Hume. Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, ed. by Nelson Pyke, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merill Company.
Reichlin, M. 2021. The role of conscience in Smith’s revised sentimentalism. Intellectual History Review 31 (4): 585–602.
Riddle, Glenn K. 1959. The place of benevolence in Butler’s ethics. The Philosophical Quarterly 9 (37): 356–362.
Rorty, A.O. 1978. Butler on benevolence and conscience. Philosophy 53 (204): 171–184.
Smith, A. 1976. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. ed. by D.D. Raphael and A.L. Macfie, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sturgeon, N.L. 1976. Nature and conscience in Butler’s ethics. The Philosophical Review 85 (3): 316–356.
Szabados, B. 1976. Butler on corrupt conscience. Journal of the History of Philosophy 14 (4): 462–469.
White, A.R. 1952. Conscience and self-love in Butler’s sermons. Philosophy 27 (103): 329–344.
Yajima, N. 2017. Why did Hume not become an atheist?: The influence of Butler on Hume’s dialogues. The Journal of Scottish Philosophy 15 (3): 249–260.
Yandell, K.E. 1990. Hume’s “Inexplicable Mystery.” Philadelphia (PA): Temple University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nohara, S. (2024). Butler and the Scottish Enlightenment: His Relationship with Adam Smith. In: Arie, D., Okubo, M., Yajima, N. (eds) Joseph Butler. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9903-3_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9903-3_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-9902-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-9903-3
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)